WORKERS should be given carbon trading permits if their employers move their operations offshore because of the Government’s emissions scheme, the Australian Workers Union (AWU) announced yesterday.
The AWU yesterday hosted business leaders in Sydney to discuss the proposed carbon trading scheme. The union’s national secretary Paul Howes says there is currently nothing to stop companies from keeping their permits even after they move overseas.
He said the Federal Government should consider forcing companies to pass on the permits to workers if that happens.
“It is a form of insurance and compensation for workers who may be left in a vulnerable position because an employer has acted in a less than truthful manner,” he said.
Howes said workers in vulnerable industries like aluminium, steel and cement should be targeted in the scheme.
“The one point that I think has been missing from this debate from day ‘dot’ is what happens to the workers and working families in these industries,” he said.
But Climate Change Minister Penny Wong has shot down the union’s claim that companies will be able to take their pollution permits offshore. She says companies would forfeit their permits if they moved their operations overseas.
“Obviously the Government is very aware of the potential impact on workers,” she said.
“That’s why we’ve put forward a range of measures in the green paper to assist companies as well as employees as we transition to a cleaner, greener economy.”
Meanwhile, the Federal Opposition is strengthening its resistance to the Government’s proposed start-up date of 2010 for the emissions trading scheme with the Opposition Leader Brendan Nelson stating that starting the scheme in 2010 would not be environmentally or economically responsible.
Dr Nelson added that the Coalition needs to be properly briefed on the Government’s plans before it finalises its policy.